A former soldier's history of domestic violence ended in a deadly shooting that robbed Anthony Bowler's family and friends of his companionship and Bowler of his dream of a family of his own, witnesses testified Wednesday.

Alberto Antonio Mendiola, 28, is facing up to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of manslaughter Tuesday in the shooting death of Bowler, 30, on March 22, 2014.

The shooting occurred after Mendiola saw his estranged wife, Nicole Mendiola, in her home with Bowler and thought they were in a sexual relationship. However, she testified earlier in the trial that she had only met Bowler that day and they were not in a relationship.

Nicole Mendiola took the stand Wednesday in the opening day of the sentencing phase of the trial to testify about her “abusive” relationship with Alberto Mendiola.

She told the jurors of more than five domestic violence incidents ranging from when they first met in 2007 to the day of the fatal shooting.

The abuse started before their marriage, when Alberto Mendiola would fight with her and spit on her, she testified.

In another incident, police were called to Mulligan’s Shot Bar after “it got physical,” she testified.

During their wedding day, a fight broke out between their two families that resulted in the police showing up to the home, she testified.

After Nicole Mendiola got pregnant, Alberto Mendiola joined the U.S. Army in an effort to support the new baby and his stepson, but the domestic violence didn’t stop, Nicole Mendiola testified.

“At the beginning it got better,” she testified. “Then things started getting out of control, physical fights. I was pregnant and the cops had to come.”

She added, “Albert got drunk and we started fighting.”

Another fight resulted in Nicole Mendiola getting hurt.

“I was still pregnant and he started fighting and dragged me,” she said.

She said the military police were called on more than one occasion, but she lied to them and said the fights were only verbal and not physical.

During Alberto Mendiola’s tour of duty in Afghanistan, he came back home briefly for his daughter’s birthday party. The couple got into a fight before the party and she had “a black eye for her daughter’s birthday,” she testified.

Alberto Mendiola served in the U.S. Army between 2008 and 2011 and was deployed to Afghanistan for 10 months.

Nicole Mendiola testified that her husband “blamed her for his discharge” from the Army.

She finally got a protective order against Mendiola after a fight near Christmas in 2013 that resulted in her suffering broken ribs, she testified.

After that fight, she told Alberto Mendiola that she “didn’t want anything to do with him.”

Despite the order, she claimed that Alberto Mendiola continued to call her over and over again, and even continued to go to her home. On one night months before the fatal shooting, he broke into her house with a gun and assaulted her, she testified.

Prosecutors asked her why she never divorced Alberto Mendiola.

She replied, “Because I raised (her oldest son) without a father and I didn’t want my other children to go through that.”

Defense lawyers Joe Spencer and Felix Valenzuela asked Nicole Mendiola if all the fights were instigated by Alberto Mendiola. She answered that “some were over disagreements between the two of us.”

Alberto Mendiola’s stepson also testified about his relationship with his stepfather and the night of the shooting.

The 13-year-old testified that he had to call 911 several times when the family lived in Tennessee due to Alberto Mendiola beating up Nicole Mendiola.

He testified that Alberto Mendiola threatened him and told him to never call 911 again.

He testified that on the night of the shooting, “I remember waking up to gunshots and my mom screaming.”

He added that he was “scared, sad and nervous” because “he (Alberto Mendiola) had a gun.”

The 13-year-old also remembered Alberto Mendiola “telling my mom to kill him because he didn’t want to go to jail — that he was going to go to Mexico.”

The stepson had to leave the stand during his testimony because he started crying but was called back later in the day.

Two El Paso Police Department officers testified that they found at least nine boxes of ammunition for both a handgun and a rifle in a closet at Alberto Mendiola’s apartment after the shooting.

They also testified that they found 47 small plastic bags containing marijuana, which was consistent with “distribution.”

The officers said the total weight of the marijuana was about 461.26 grams.

Bowler’s family and friends also testified about the devastating impact his death has had on them. Several of the jurors cried throughout the family’s testimony.